


wicked game

by xiiis16



Series: Undisclosed [2]
Category: IM5 (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 03:48:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiiis16/pseuds/xiiis16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Then he showed up out of nowhere, just as surprised to have run into them as Dalton was. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of Cole, his characteristic preppy look as always suiting him just perfect, unlike the nervous movement of his hand fixing up his hair as Madison greeted him, before pulling him into a hug.</p><p>That was when his eyes met Dalton’s for the first time after that night. </p><p>It was like the whole world gasped and stopped around them. It was like everything was white noise for the split second their gazes stayed connected. They were looking into each other’s familiar eyes, but it felt like they didn’t know each other anymore. Something was different, and they both knew it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wicked game

**Author's Note:**

> hello my dears! :D guess who's back with more Colton feels? (run while you still can, seriously)
> 
> Alright, I decided to do a little something as a follow up to Undisclosed Desires, because well, I just... hmm I don't really have a good reason? I just really felt like it and I don't know, some of y'all seemed interested and... stuff... so yeah!  
> This time there's no big warnings, except for swearing and some gay stuff going on as always. And drama. omg this is so angst and dramatic it's ridiculous but oh well bear with me?  
> I also don't want to leave it here. I want to write a third part but hmm, I guess that depends on whether you'll like this or not (oh god i hope so <3)
> 
> Yeah, so, that being said, remember last time's words of advice; if you think all this (aka the gay) is not your cup of tea then don't read it okay? I don't want anyone leaving this traumatized! Especially the boys! I know they like to wander around sometimes, and they can be little ninjas so you better be safe than sorry and I am stating right here and now that you should not read this because it will be awkward. And also, my personal opinions are not in any way translated into this story :) and it's all fiction, remember that.
> 
> So yeah... I hope you enjoy this. And if you came across this before checking out Undisclosed Desires just -> archiveofourown.org/works/965503
> 
> Oh, right, this is unbeta'd, so all mistakes are mine.

* * *

_you go back to her_

_and I go back_

_to black_

 

 

 

You know what they say about mornings. Sometimes mornings make it all better; the shy and fragile morning light eliminates the irrational fear, the blown out of proportion problems our mind created the night before. Everything seems clearer come morning and you almost laugh at how much you stressed over something that can be solved, that is not as bad as your clouded mind made it seem.

But there are mornings you wake up and immediately a weight is falling over your chest as you get more and more conscious. All you did the night before comes rushing back to you and your brain is overflowing with a loud sense of dread, like a million voices are screaming at you, calling out all you did wrong the night before.

That was the way Dalton woke up that day.

Dread was the main emotion taking over him as he opened his eyes and found Cole sleeping peacefully by his side, his hand still faintly grasping Dalton’s. His brain was overflowing with memories and he couldn’t focus with all the voices screaming at him everything they’ve done. He remembers moving, trying to get off the bed without waking the other boy. He remembers slowly pulling his hand out of Cole’s grasp (and he also remembers how his heart swelled when Cole only gripped his hand tighter and scooped a little closer, chasing after his body and the reassuring heat it provided, but he vehemently chose to ignore it).

What he remembers best, though, is the hard pang of guilt hitting him as he looked at his phone and saw Madi’s name flashing on the screen, a couple of new messages still to be read.

His head hurt, and the hastiness of his movements was only making it worse. He felt bad, almost sick. But nothing was worse, or hurt just as blindly as the guilt taking over him when Madi’s face flashed through his mind’s eye and her name echoed inside his head nonstop, repeated like a mantra.

Guilt was all he felt. And with a sudden realization it all turned a thousand times worse as he understood, after another look at Cole’s face, that the guilt he felt was because he didn’t regret it.

_At all._

He ran out of there and he doesn’t remember how he got home.

 

Facing Madison was the hardest part. They met that same weekend and Dalton spent half the time just holding her, holding her hand and telling her countless times how beautiful she was and how much she made him happy. How much he loved her.

It wasn’t a lie – he did love her. By the time their afternoon together was drawing to an end he was almost sure everything that happened with Cole was mostly alcohol induced. What was he thinking? Why would he ever do something like that to Madi?

He was going to forget it. He was going to ignore everything he might’ve felt that night, and he was going to focus on Madi, because this with her was real, was _safe_.

Then he showed up out of nowhere, just as surprised to have run into them as Dalton was. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of Cole, his characteristic preppy look as always suiting him just perfect, unlike the nervous movement of his hand fixing up his hair as Madison greeted him, before pulling him into a hug.

That was when his eyes met Dalton’s for the first time after that night.

It was like the whole world gasped and stopped around them. It was like everything was white noise for the split second their gazes stayed connected. They were looking into each other’s familiar eyes, but it felt like they didn’t know each other anymore. Something was different, and they both knew it. That hurt and something else (disappointment?) on Cole’s eyes was unfamiliar and uncomfortable. It bothered him. Because he knew it was his fault it was there. _He_ caused it.

When Madi let go of him, she was smiling, always her sweet self, oblivious to the tension between her boyfriend and the other boy.

“Well, I’m leaving you two to head back to your meeting, then,” she said, squeezing Dalton’s hand and it took him a moment to understand what she was saying, still lost in the internal mess that his head was in; still distracted by the warm fuzzy feeling in his belly as Cole kept looking at him.

“What? Wait, no, I’ll walk you home,” Dalton offered, grabbing her hand. He couldn’t be alone with Cole right now. There was a conversation they needed to have and he wasn’t ready for it just yet.

“No, baby, there’s no need for that, I’ll be fine, my mom’s picking me up,” she immediately said, with a fond smile on her face. “But-”Dalton had was about to argue again, but she cut him off before he got a chance. “Besides, you can’t be late to your band meetings,” she reasoned.

He sighed, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come.

“Okay,” he allowed. Her smile grew bigger at his resigned sigh, and she put her arms around his neck.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured and then, getting on the tip of her toes, she kissed his lips.

Cole had to look away.

It stung. It stung almost more than waking up alone that morning. It stung more than the hollow feeling that took over his chest ever since then. It stung because Dalton didn’t want to be around him and it was so obvious it literally hurt deep in his heart, the rejection stinging _so bad_.

He couldn’t explain it; he couldn’t find a reasonable justification to all the things he was suddenly feeling towards Dalton. That night rouse certain things that Cole was not ready to feel and understand. Everything changed for him.

_Everything._

He couldn’t look Cassidy in the eyes; he was avoiding her, because he knew that if he saw her he’d break up with her on the spot. And it doesn’t seem fair to him to ground such an important decision on something as confusing as the million thoughts going through his head and the million things he was feeling, all because of Dalton.

All this was messed up, and he had absolutely no right to feel the pang of jealousy twisting his stomach or the hurt in his chest but he did.

He did…

When Madi left and they started walking, alone, the tension separating them was palpable. And Cole hated it, because this wasn’t them. Dalton was avoiding his gaze at all costs, keeping a distance between them and the silence was the worst part.

At some point Cole had to step aside to Dalton’s side of the sidewalk to make way for a stroller and incredulity colored Cole’s face when Dalton retracted from him, as if afraid to touch him.

It was the last straw for him.

“What are you doing?” Cole burst suddenly, stopping.

Dalton was taken by surprise at the abrupt explosion. A ton of emotions were crossing his eyes, “What?”

“Why are you acting like this? Why-“he trailed off, brow furrowed in frustration. Dalton’s facial expression shifted completely.

“Cole, don’t,” he said slowly, calmly, as he turned away, ready to keep on walking.

Cole threw his arms out in outrage, “Are you serious, right now? Are you gonna keep bailing on me? Are you gonna ignore me now, until everything goes away?” he said, his voice raising.

Dalton turned towards him again, “It’s complicated I-“he trailed off, looking around. “Dude, seriously, not here,” he said, reaching for Cole’s arm to pull him along.

“No!” Cole said, pulling his arm free. He didn’t care if they were in the middle of the park and people were looking. He was going to speak his mind right here, right now because he couldn’t take it any longer.

“Fuck you, Dalton; you think this is complicated for you? Well, _I_ was the one who had to wake up alone! _I_ was the one whose calls were ignored all fucking weekend. I’m the one ignoring my girlfriend because there are all kinds of messed up thoughts clouding my mind and I don’t know if I want to be with her anymore because of _you_ , when you’re just hanging with Madi like it was nothing, like everything is fine and it’s just okay to blow me off like that!”

And that right there scared Dalton. He was struck speechless feeling the weight of Cole’s words. He freaked out. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t handle it.

Before he could stop himself, the words were leaving his lips, “God, you’re blowing everything out of proportion!” he yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration, “we were drunk and it wasn’t… it wasn’t even the real thing, we didn’t go all the way. It didn’t-“

“Mean anything?” Cole completed his voice suddenly calm, cold. It was a hundred times worse and Dalton felt his heart drop at his feet as he realized how he’d sound to Cole’s ears.

Silence filled the space in between them. That was not what Dalton had meant to say. What he meant to say was that this situation wasn’t as dramatic as _they_ were making it. It was not this big irremediable problem. It was fixable. They could fix it.

“I wasn’t-“he started, but Cole held his hand up, stopping him as he shook his head, a humorless smile on his face. “Don’t bother.”

“No, Cole, dude,” Dalton insisted, stepping closer to him, to try and hold his arm. But Cole stepped back automatically.

“Just go, okay? Just go and tell the boys I’m sick or something. I can’t – I can’t deal with this right now,” Cole said, his voice breaking at the last word as the lump in his throat tightened and it was hard to speak.

“Cole, I didn’t mean it like that!” Dalton tried again.

“Yeah… yeah, you did,” Cole said, as he turned around and started walking the other way, ignoring Dalton calling behind him. Dalton didn’t follow, and he just disappeared around a corner.

 

 

After that they hardly talked. They hardly looked at each other. The boys noticed, of course, they knew something was wrong, but they still played it up for everyone else.

They still went out all together, and sometimes the girls joined them and Cole could still make himself hold Cassidy’s hand and smile like everything was okay. He could see Dalton doing the same with Madison, except with them, everything really seemed to be okay. Dalton wanted to believe that as well.

When they were sitting across from each other at one of the tables, it was hard not to make eye contact. The girls had no idea, talking to each other cheerfully, laughing together. Dalton’s hand was curled around Madi’s waist and Cole’s eyes kept falling there no matter how hard he was trying to act cool and concentrate in the silly conversation Gabe and Dana were having by his side instead.

This whole situation was messed up. And then it got worse, when Cassidy turned towards Cole smiling and simply held his face and kissed him.

Dalton had no right to feel jealous, but he did. It was so frustrating, so messed up, so confusing his head was constantly spinning, different thoughts surging from all directions making him feel even more conflicted because ever since that night everything felt wrong, felt out of place. _What the hell did all this mean?_

They were getting bitter with each other, hurting each other countless times, and using their girlfriends to do so. Every kiss Cole gave her was to rile Dalton up, every hug and every loving word he spoke was for Dalton to hear, but the other boy barely reacted. Cole was sure it didn’t have any effect on him.

When Dalton was with Madi, however, the effect it had on Cole was obvious, or so he thought. It was getting out of hand. It was turning into something else entirely, it was poisoning their relationship.

A couple of weeks later, Dalton found out Cole broke up with her and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

Cole hadn’t been able to keep his relationship with Cassidy. It was so hollow at this point; there was nothing there anymore, because the more time it passed, the more he realized things between them were not okay anymore. All he once felt for her wasn’t there anymore, and the whole thing was becoming _poisonous_.

He still wasn’t talking to Dalton.

And he missed him _so much_. It was actually ridiculous how a drunken night could change everything so suddenly, could arouse such _feelings_ and put everything into perspective.

But he was still hurt. He was mostly hurt now, all the anger and frustration gone at this point, leaving nothing but a soreness in his heart that only intensified the longer he didn’t speak to the other boy. Cole wasn’t trying to hurt him anymore, to get to him somehow, make him react to him, to feel like Dalton wasn’t _indifferent_ to him. No, at this point he was tired of _feeling_ , and all he wanted was to forget it all.

On one of the countless days spent on the studio working, they crossed each other in one of the corridors. It wasn’t the first time it happened, all the other times they just ignored each other, not even looking twice.

But for some reason, not this time. Today was being extremely hard because every time one look at the other, they were met with a pair of eyes already looking back.

Then Cole was fidgeting with the buttons of his shirt, rolling the sleeves back and it was so distracting – Dalton didn’t know why. He could hear Dana inside the booth, but he wasn’t paying attention to anything, but Cole.

Dalton’s eyeliner was already smudged at the corners and the kept scrapping his nail polish in a nervous manner. At some point they were staring at each other, and it was getting so uncomfortable Cole had to get up announcing he was hungry, and Will asked for a bottle of water from the vending machines.

When Cole was coming back from the vending machine with Will’s water bottle, they crossed each other on Dalton’s way to the bathroom. Their shoulders brushed, their whole bodies tensed, Dalton’s cologne filled the air and Cole sighed. He was tired of this, so tired. All he wanted was closure. Nothing more.

He was about to stop, ready to turn around and open his mouth to talk when Dalton’s voice ringed. “I’m sorry.”

It took him by surprise. Dalton was already looking at him. Cole didn’t say anything, just examining his face. For the first time in weeks he wasn’t looking at a tense mouth, frown furrowing his eyebrows and tense jaw, but at a tired expression that matched exactly how he felt.

“I’m sorry I walked out. I didn’t mean to, I just… I freaked out,” he said, his voice cracking, ending the sentence in a whisper. He took a deep breath, “I’m sorry I avoided you, I’m sorry I’ve been a dick to you. I’m sorry I tried to blow it off like it was nothing just because I was scared. Really, Cole, I’m so sorry. Now can we please just stop this? I can’t-” he trailed off.

His whole relationship with Dalton suddenly flashed in front of his eyes – all they built together, all they achieved together, all the laughs and good times, all the stupidity and silly talks and pranks, everything crossed his mind. And the simple thought of not having Dalton by his side anymore tightened his heart so painfully it was hard to breathe. There was a lump in his throat, and he could feel his eyes burning, suddenly.

There was nothing that he wanted more than to forgive and forget all this and go back to what they had before this whole mess.

But there was a lot and he just couldn’t forget.

“Why couldn’t you just talk to me?” he asked.

Dalton knew the answer. It was sitting right on the tip of his tongue. _Because I couldn’t deal with the stuff I knew I would feel the second I was alone with you again and my eyes fell on you._ But he bit it back.

“I don’t know… I didn’t know what to do, so… I ran away from it,” he whispered, leaning against the wall of the corridor.

Cole scoffed, “How was that fair for me?” he said. “I didn’t know what to do either; I was just as lost as you were and you just walked off and took refuge in Madi.”

“You could’ve done the same with Cassidy-“Dalton started, but Cole interrupted him.

“No, I couldn’t, because she wasn’t _you_!”

Dalton’s eyes snapped up to meet Cole’s. “This- this is ridiculous. All I wanted was for you to acknowledge what we did. I just wanted to talk about it, and you ran off and turned it into this big monster that’s fucking destroying us, Dalton.”

Dalton shook his head, “I didn’t mean to! Jesus, please understand that I couldn’t deal with it, okay? I just couldn’t deal with all I was feeling, specially the guilt. Just thinking of Madi, I felt like I was choking.”

Cole stayed silent then, the lump on his throat closing up and a pain on his chest spreading and intensifying at his words. He could feel tears gathering in his lashes and he just looked up, swallowing hard. That was hard to hear. It was painful and it stung.

It felt like his heart was being slowly ripped open.

He took a deep breath, decided to not let it all get the better of him.

“So you regret it, is that it?” A pause as his eyes fell on Dalton’s, a single thin tear betraying him and escaping his lashes, which he cleaned immediately. “You regret every single thing you did and told me that night?”

That single tear was like a knife to Dalton’s heart and suddenly he felt the most intense feeling taking over him. Seeing Cole like this changed everything – he never looked so vulnerable, so young.  And suddenly that intense wave of fond was flooding his senses and all he wanted was to tell him _the_ _truth_.

It worked like a switch, turning something on inside him and abruptly there was this urge to reassure Cole. He thought he _regretted it_? He didn’t, and the fact that Cole thought that made his whole body itch, so uncomfortable because that wasn’t the case, _at all_. His brain was on overdrive and he could barely think his actions through, all he could think about was making Cole believe that night was not _meaningless_ to him.

“No,” he whispered, getting away from the wall, looking at him with a new found determination “God, everything I say turns out the wrong way”. In a sudden, almost instinctual urge he moved fast and in a couple of steps he was invading Cole’s personal space, crowding him against the wall until his back hit against it and a surprised gasp left his parted lips. Cole’s mind went blank.

“I don’t regret _a single thing_ about that night,” he said, as his fingers intertwined in his hair, and then he crashed his lips hard against Cole’s, sucking the air in between and sealing them together, firmly.

 

Everything stopped for a second and Cole couldn’t feel a damn thing, like his body was numb. And then all of a sudden, it was like his senses were turned on and every single sensation took over his body because _Dalton was kissing him_.

Something exploded in his chest, something so hot and intense it felt like his body was burning up on the inside and he dreamed about Dalton’s lips on him so many times before but he never thought it’d feel so amazing. All those nights, haunted by the simple idea of this but nothing could ever prepare him for the fluttering of his heart, the sudden weakness on his knees, the blast of feelings in his chest and the wild butterflies going crazy in his stomach.

It was divine. And then Dalton parted his lips and his tongue licked at Cole’s bottom lip, awaking his tingling body. Will’s water bottle fell from his grasp. His hands came up to both sides of Dalton’s face, sliding back to grab his hair and pull him closer.

Dalton didn’t even hesitate.

He pulled Cole’s body up against the wall, a hand by his head steadying them both and it has been too long, way too long since that night and he missed Cole _like crazy_. As he explored the other boy’s mouth, tasting him, wanting to remember him forever, he suddenly had no idea why he hasn’t spent his whole life kissing Cole.

His brain was a mess, but the electricity going through his body was so distracting, so good, it was hard to remember why he shouldn’t do this, what were the consequences. They didn’t seem so severe, so terrible went Cole’s lips were moving against his and his warmth was all he could feel.

Cole pulled away, breathless, his hand grabbing at Dalton’s shirt as he moved his hips forward without thinking, connecting with Dalton’s and bringing back all sorts of memories.

“You can’t just kiss your way out of thi-“Cole started in a shaky, husky voice, but was interrupted by Dalton’s demanding lips against his again, a hand on his hip gripping so tight he could almost feel Dalton’s nails.

“I can try,” Dalton whispered against his lips. “If you don’t listen to me, if you don’t believe what I say, the least I can do is try to show you how I _feel_.”

Cole felt his heart miss a beat at Dalton’s words. He didn’t know what to think, so he let his body act alone, on instant solely, and with a hand on Dalton’s neck, he pulled his face against him and kissed him again.

He kissed him until he was breathless, until his lips were bruised and then he kissed him some more, feeling those hands holding on to him like he was holding on to his life.

They were in the middle of a corridor, a poorly lite corridor that everyone used and anyone could show up at any moment, and even that didn’t stop them. If anything, it was spurring the teenagers in them and the whole situation turned even more exhilarating.

Cole’s hand went down Dalton’s side, inside and up his shirt brushing the skin of his abdomen. Dalton groaned against his mouth and bit Cole’s lower lip. When Dalton opened his eyes and looked into Cole’s, his pupils were blown and the brown of his eyes was a thin ring. His lips were swollen red and shiny and it ignited something inside Dalton.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, chills running down his body as one of his hands rested on Cole’s jaw, thumb caressing his red lips.

Before Dalton could stop himself, he turned Cole’s head slightly to the side, and his mouth connected with his neck, sucking the air around and sealing his lips against his skin. He heard Cole’s surprised gasp, and he felt Cole’s whole body jolting when he sank his teeth into the other boy’s skin. His hand was on Dalton’s arm automatically, gripping tight to hold himself up.

Cole’s heart was beating so fast, Dalton could feel his pulse against his lips and it was the most amazing thing he’s ever felt.

All of it was electrifying and Cole had no idea how sensitive his neck was until now, because Dalton’s mouth was _sucking_ on his neck and he felt his legs turn to jelly and his eyes flutter. If it weren’t for Dalton’s body trapping him deliciously tight against the wall he was sure he’d be on the floor by now. He bit his lip hard, to keep the moan from escaping his lips.

“Dal…“he called, breathless, “Dalton, you’ll leave a mark,” he said, some rational part of his brain speaking louder. And Dalton was confronted with the idea of having Cole walking around with a mark on his neck, telling everyone that _someone_ was claiming him, knowing that someone was _him_ and he saw fire.

“That’s the point,” Dalton breathed, “I want you to look in the mirror every day and remember this, and everything I’m trying to tell you.”

“And what’s that?” Cole asked. All he wanted was to hear his voice.

“I don’t regret the other night,” Dalton started, without hesitating, “I don’t regret what I said and _god_ , even less what I did. I do regret leaving you and I regret the circumstances. Do you understand that? This is so fucked up, Cole.”

Cole was looking at him, listening to every word, his hands gripping Dalton’s shirt, holding on to him.

 “I know it is,” Cole breathed. “But don’t run away from it, _from me_ ,” he pleaded, “We’ll deal with it together, yeah?”

Dalton looked up to meet his gaze and Cole was looking back at him with apprehensive eyes, like he was waiting for Dalton to blow him off again. He couldn’t do that. This was messed up, and there were way too many people that were going to get out of this hurt, but for whatever reason Dalton couldn’t deal with one of those people to be _Cole._

So he nodded, taking a shaky breath. “Yeah,” he whispered.

A small relieved smile formed on Cole’s lips and his eyes lit up for a moment before he pulled Dalton closer and kissed him gentler this time.

Dalton’s heart jumped in his chest. He could feel _everything_ through that kiss. It was so simple and so raw, so sincere he could feel all of Cole’s doubts, all his insecurities and worries. And he could feel the hope as well, he could feel how expectant Cole was and by the way he was holding on to him, so tight, it showed him how bad he wanted this; how bad he wanted _him_.

The thought alone made him dizzy; it was so much to assimilate.

Dalton broke the kiss, stepping away from Cole and grabbing his hand, “Come with me,” he whispered, the blue of his eyes disappearing into a thin ring, replaced by the dark of his irises.

Cole knew what that meant and he felt a wave of heat concentrating on the lower part of his body. And he wanted to go with him, _so much._

He nodded and stepped towards Dalton, following him still a little dazed.

Dalton smiled and pulled him closer in a quick movement, crashing his lips against Cole’s like he just couldn’t help himself, the smile still curving his lips. He parted his lips, inviting Cole’s tongue in and-

“Cole, for God’s sake, where’s my water I’m about to go in!”

Will’s voice filled the corridor as they both heard the door swinging open. They jumped, and Cole pushed Dalton away from him immediately, trying to cover it up, afraid someone might walk in on them.

He quickly grabbed the bottle from the floor, glanced at Dalton and smiled, ready to go back to the room where the boys were waiting for their time to go in the booth to record.

“Wait,” Dalton said, grabbing Cole’s arm, “Come over tonight?” he said in an expectant tone, a bit insecure because he wasn’t sure about this himself. Cole looked at him, biting his lip, waiting, pondering.

“Okay,” he finally said, and he smiled, turning around and coming back to the room with a new lightness to his step, like a weight was lifted of his chest and he was floating.

He felt like a little girl, he felt like giggling because right now everything felt so nice, so right, and _so good_. It didn’t feel quite real, like he was in a dream. It was a weird sensation, like when you feel something is oddly out of place, but in a funny way. It felt funny, like when a Saturday feels like a lazy Sunday, but good like when you wake up in the middle of the night, sleepy, thinking it’s time to get up already but it’s still 1 am and you can go back to sleep.

It was relieving, knowing Dalton felt the same he did, whatever that was (he still couldn’t quite get into that, try to name his feelings).

Entering the room, everyone noticed the change in his mood. When Dalton came in, and they both exchanged a knowingly look and a shy smile when they thought nobody was watching, they all pretended that they didn’t notice, but they did.

They also didn’t mention it, just smiled, glad whatever was wrong between them was taken care of, and Dalton felt a huge wave of appreciation for his friends.

 

 

Cole couldn’t think about anything else for the rest of the day, and the night couldn’t come fast enough. There was this nervous, anxious feeling making his whole body vibrate every time he thought about Dalton’s invitation.

As he neared Dalton’s house his heart rating was getting faster and faster, beating so hard against his ribcage he was scared it would beat right out of his chest.

Making his way to Dalton’s door, he had to take a deep breath several times to calm himself down. Smiling at his own silliness, he shook his head, dismissing all the crazy nervous feelings taking over him and he raised his fist to knock on the door.

The door swung open when he touched it. Cole raised his eyebrows, surprised. He knew Dalton was waiting for him but leaving the door open was rather radical.

He pushed it further making his way in. “Dal?” he called, as he walked through the hall, towards the living room.

His own heart was beating so fast inside his chest it was the only thing he could hear as the blood rushed in his ears along with his hard breathing. Dalton didn’t answer, and right away, Cole knew something was wrong and his heart skipped a beat, a weird feeling setting in his stomach.

Then he turned the corner.

What he saw made his heart fall at his feet shattering in a million tiny pieces; he felt a hard blow in his chest and he couldn’t breathe.

Dalton was there, sitting on the couch, and he wasn’t alone. Madison was sitting on his lap, straddling him as she kissed him passionately, her shirt already lost on the floor. She had her back turned at Cole, neither of them realized the other boy’s presence and she was mumbling something in Dalton’s ear.

“Jesus Christ, _Madison_ , just- please,“ Dalton trailed off, groaning as his hands were suddenly on her back, making their way towards her bra strap, “ _Get off_ ,” he mumbled, his voice breaking and Cole, frozen in place due to the shock, couldn’t see anymore.

He heard her sighing and a strained gasp left his lips before he could stop himself, stealing both their attention to him, at once.

“Oh my God!” Madi yelped covering herself with her arms, getting up from Dalton’s lap, searching for her shirt. That was when Cole realized Dalton was already shirtless and his jeans were unzipped, his hair all disheveled and his lips bright red.

The violent stab on Cole’s heart was so overpowering it was hard to describe. He felt his mouth go dry and he couldn’t feel his legs. He wanted to move, but _he couldn’t feel his legs_. All he could feel was the burn of tears in his eyes, something ripping his chest open, a whole opening up in his chest.

He could hear Madi apologizing as she dressed herself, but he wasn’t making sense of her words. All he could see was Dalton; the way his eyes went wide, the way the shock of seeing Cole took over his face, like _he had no idea he would show up_ , and the way his lip trembled as he said his name in a barely audible whisper.

_“Cole, I-“_

“Wow, I’m sorry,” Cole said, finding his voice as he looked away from Dalton, to Madi, “Sorry, guys, I’ll just-“and he trailed off, because he didn’t trust his voice right now, swallowing the rock hard lump on his throat.

He turned away and walked off without taking a single glance in Dalton’s way, because he didn’t trust his emotions either. And the tears were burning so ardently, blinding him as he stepped into the night’s chilliness but he refused to let them fall.

He could feel his heart absolutely crushed in his chest hurting with every breath he took as if there were little shards of it stuck in his lungs _but still_ , he refused to let the tears fall and acknowledge the pain Dalton just caused. He refused to let it show because he still had a little bit of pride and as long as the street lights were illuminating his face, he wouldn’t let it show.

A stupid part of him was still waiting for an explanation, waiting for Dalton to come running after him assuring him _it wasn’t what he was thinking_.

But Dalton’s door remained closed, just like Cole had left it when he got out of the house.

Now he felt stupid. He felt betrayed when, really, he had no right to feel, but mostly he felt stupid. Dalton deceived him; he bailed on him again, stepping back to what he knew, to his comfort zone, leaving Cole out here, _alone_.

He made Cole believe that they were in his together, that they were on the same page and that they would face all these crazy feelings and this fucked up situation _together_.

But no…

He went back to her. What was Cole supposed to do?

Reaching the end of the street where the last street lights illuminated, Cole felt a quiet, almost inaudible, sob leave his lips.

Then he stepped into the darkness, and he welcomed the black.

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU for reading! And please, please please, tell me what you think, either here, or on my tumblr (whereshiphappens.tumblr.com)! :) LOVE YOU


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